On Work  / Life Balance

On Work / Life Balance

It seems everywhere I go in the world people struggle with maintaining a healthy work/life balance. People want to have successful careers, but not at the expense of living a good life.

A stroll through a modern airport is a good proxy for the mash up of work/life balance issues. People of all kinds are moving through the day in an airport - some business, some personal, but all are going somewhere.

In an airport it's easy to see the goal is to complete the trip or get from point A to point B. But in our lives we exist in a continuum of one day to the next. It's not as easy to define what the goal is sometimes. Goals also have short term (survive the day), mid term (survive the semester or project), and long term/steady state (maintain a certain weight, retire securely, or some other lifelong goal).

One simple trick I've used to help me manage through the noise and stay focused, positive, and constructive, is to use a "Mind Map". It's a pretty simple excel spreadsheet with 2 tabs : professional and personal. Each tab as 5 columns: Priority, Issue, Timing, Elements, and Relationships. Each month I update the list, print it out, and then update it along the way throughout the month manually. It helps me clear my mind once I put an issue on my mind map, and allows me to enjoy life knowing that I'm going to get to it eventually. I don't have to carry everything in my mind! :)

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Another interesting mental model I recently came across is the Japanese concept of Ikigai - or "reason to live". I haven't worked too much with this model, but it seems to be complete at bouncing from different areas of focus in one's life from what you love, to what you are good at, to what you get paid for, to what the world needs. I am going to study this one some more and work on applying it as I manage my work/life balance.

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What models have you used to manage work/life balance? Please share! :)

Thank you for reading?The River, and if you have enjoyed it please subscribe to receive notification of future articles. Please help spread the word by sharing The River with your network with an encouraging word asking others to check it out. A special thank you to those of you who have posted comments to share your experience and advice. I'm grateful as these interactions inspire me, and I'm certain it has helped others in their journey.

Nitin Agrawal

?? Innovation | Certified Independent Director |Precision Agriculture | Agriculture, Automobile, and Off-highway Industry | Operation Excellence| Business & Mfg Strategy | Systems Thinker | Startup Mentor

2 年

Wow It's great to go through this Tony ??

Loved the Ikigai concept!! I'll certainly invest some time to review my actions based on it to see if I find some answers....or more questions ??

Aslan Umarov

Chief Executive Officer

2 年

thank you. this is very helpful. I have similar spreadsheet. I divide in three categories: business, family, spiritual. to make and see connections between these three I use mindmaps which I draw by hand in sketchbook or online in https://miro.com. writing everything down in narrative form as personal/business journal helps me to better see the picture review\correct my actions and conclusions time after time. I will try using IKIGAI form in this process. thanks.

Moacir Soares

Agile, Inovation, Global Leader, SAP Implementation

2 年

Thanks a lot for sharing. I have a detail planning by month of how much I planned and expend by category In a spreadsheet for a budget perspective. I'm also control the assets and the whole capital and how much grow in the year. It helps me to see when is time to invest or buy something. I really liked your model, as you sad we had too much in our minds to control. I recently buy a whiteboard in my office where I write some short term. But the long term I will look to your model.

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